11/17/08
by: Scott
Permalink
 |
Credit where credit's due. I didn't think Sam Mitchell would make the smart move of swapping Jamario Moon for Andrea Bargnani in the starting lineup, but he did it and it worked out. Andrea was ballin' in the first quarter but his final stats were so-so: 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. More importantly, the Raptors' starting forwards thoroughly outplayed their Heat counterparts — which is the whole point in starting Bargnani and Chris Bosh together. They can hold their own against most forwards on defense, and present significant match-up problems against most forward tandems on offense.
While we're handing out unexpected daps, I have to give respect to Will Solomon for doing an admirable job filling in for an injured Jose Calderon. Let's make it official and state that I was wrong to say in pre-season that Roko Ukic should be Calderon's main backup. Solomon doesn't have Calderon's court vision, but he ran the Raptors' offense with aplomb and finished with 15 points, 11 assists and four turnovers in 34 minutes. Kudos to Bryan Colangelo for signing this guy — he's better than I thought.
As shallow as the Raptors are, it's nothing compared to the Heat's D-League-quality bench. Miami will probably finish .500 and squeak into the playoffs this season, but that's entirely because of Dwyane Wade — who was the best player on the floor yesterday. When I look back on the 2003 draft, I have a tendency to fool myself that if we were to rank the picks now, Bosh would go second after LeBron. Y'all know I loves me some CB4, but D-Wade is unquestionably the second-best player to come out of that draft class. He was a force of nature yesterday and the only reason the Heat were even in the game.
An unexpected side effect of sending Jamario Moon to the bench was that he played his best game of the season. He hustled, didn't force shots, and contributed eight points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal in 19 minutes. That's the stat-stuffing Jamario I knew and loved from last season.
Moon wasn't even the best performer off the Raptors' bench yesterday. Kris Humphries busted out of everyone's doghouse with a monster game on Sunday: 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists in only 16 minutes. In the Raptors' eight previous games, Hump played for a grand total of 18 minutes and had exactly zero assists. If there's a lesson here, it's that Big Sexy might consider passing the ball once in a rare while if you give him more than a couple of minutes per game out there. While he might be the most unpopular Raptor among fans I've talked to, there's no denying his productivity when he actually gets some burn.
There really isn't anything negative to say about this game from the Raptors' perspective. They out-rebounded the Heat 52-35, dished out 31 assists to Miami's 21 dimes, and seven Toronto players scored in double figures. It's just one game, but when you consider that the Raptors' opponents for the rest of the month include the Celtics, Lakers, Hawks and Magic — every win counts. Let's finish this month at .500 or better and look forward to feasting on some weaker competition in December. 
|
